By Casey Jarmes | The News-Review
KEOKUK COUNTY – Local elections were held on Nov. 4, bringing upsets and changes to the status quo across the county. Results will not be made official until after the final canvass, which will happen on Nov. 12 for most districts in Keokuk County and on Nov. 18 for districts that cover multiple counties.
Perhaps the most notable results came from the Sigourney School District, where voters were asked if the school would be allowed to raise $9,900,000 for a massive infrastructure update at the high school, funded by an increase on property taxes. A slight majority favored the the bond referendum, with the issue receiving 401 YES votes (52.35%), compared to 365 NO votes (47.65%). However, Iowa law requires a 60% approval rating for referendums of this nature to pass, meaning the referendum failed to pass.
Following the vote, the Sigourney Schools Facebook account posted “While the bond referendum was not approved, we appreciate the community’s engagement throughout this process. Facility needs at the Junior/Senior High School remain, and the district will take time to reflect and determine next steps.”
The ballot measures to change the term length for Richland mayor and city council members both passed, with 88 YES (68.75%) to 40 NO (31.25%) votes for the mayor change and 88 YES (67.68%) to 42 NO (32.31%) votes for the council change.
The ballot measure to adopt a Revenue Purpose Statement specifying the use of revenues the Tri-County Community School District will receive from the State of Iowa Secure an Advanced Vision for Education Fund passed, 148 YES (88.10%) to 20 (11.90%) NO votes.
Other results from around the county are as follows, with winning candidates written in bold:
Delta Mayor
James Ahlberg – 23 (95.83%)
Delta City Council
Melvin Lambert – 23 (22.77%)
Nathan Slagter – 23 (22.77%)
Barbara Fisher – 22 (21.78%)
Dolores Carey – 17 (16.83%)
Shannon Kleinschmidt (Write-in) – 5 (4.95%)
Gibson Mayor
Steve Van Zee – 9 (100%)
Gibson City Council
Tom Stein – 10 (25%)
Greg Ehret – 9 (22.50%)
Sherry Ehret – 9 (22.50%)
Jim Schultz (Write-in) – 6 (15.00%)
Stacy Schultz (Write-in) – 6 (15.00%)
Harper Mayor
Luke McCarville (Write-in) – 7 (87.50%)
Harper City Council
Roberta Peiffer – 13 (22.03%)
Connie Baker – 13 (22.03%)
Mary Lou Kane – 9 (15.25%)
Colton Altenhofen (Write-in) – 7 (11.86%)
James Sines (Write-in) – 6 (10.16%)
Mayor of Hayesville
Chris Gammack – 10 (90.91%)
Hayesville City Council
Zebulen Webb – 11 (55.00%)
Larry Bird – 9 (45.00%)
Hedrick Mayor
Mike Spilman (Write-in) – 49 (51.58%)
Robert Crawford – 39 (41.05%)
Hedrick City Council
Christine Norris – 75 (39.27%)
JD Olinger – 63 (32.98%)
Ethan Cernic – 42 (21.99%)
Keota Mayor
Ryan Carr – 159 (68.24%)
Anthony Cansler – 73 (31.33%)
Keota City Council
Chad M. Greiner – 161 (24.10)
Keith Edward Conrad – 137 (20.51%)
John Todd Mather – 111 (16.62%)
Patty Tinnes – 97 (14.52%)
Julie Gibson – 82 (12.28%)
Mike Bender – 56 (8.38%)
Grant Hill – 19 (2.84%)
Keswick Mayor
Mark Zittergruen – 26 (81.25%)
Keswick City Council
Ike Schmidt – 32 (21.05%)
Chloe Lundey – 29 (19.08%)
Nicholas Watts – 29 (19.08%)
Kyle Leer – 28 (18.42%)
Rebecca Leer – 23 (15.13%)
Michael Todd Cranston – 10 (6.58%)
Kinross Mayor
Ben Mast – 6 (100%)
Kinross City Council
Carol A. Gehman – 6 (20.0%)
Lindsey Gillespie – 6 (20.0%)
Mark Lingard – 6 (20.0%)
Maleah Mast – 6 (20.0%)
Charles Sandersfeld – 6 (20.0%)
Martinsburg City Council
Todd Harbison – 8 (34.78%)
Robert L. Wells Jr – 8 (34.78%)
Mary Wells – 7 (30.43%)
North English Mayor
Daniel Strohman – 110 (96.49%)
North English City Council
Beth Carter – 105 (49.07%)
Andrew Custer – 104 (48.60%)
Ollie Mayor
Scott Vetter – 19 (100%)
Ollie City Council
Justin W. Haile – 18 (41.86%)
Chris Winn – 16 (37.21%)
TIE: Kathy Heisdorffer/Dana Miller (Write-in) – 4 (9.30%)
Whether Heisdorffer or Miller will be given a spot on the council will be determined by the drawing of lots.
Richland Mayor
John Capps – 99 (81.82%)
Richland City Council
Steve Pfeifer – 105 (21.17%)
Michael T. Hadley – 100 (20.16%)
Jim Gaines – 91 (18.35%)
Cyndia Crafton – 87 (17.54%)
Joseph Adrian – 82 (16.53%)
Sigourney Mayor
Gary Iosbaker – 398 (97.07%)
Sigourney City Council (At-Large)
David Goldman – 276 (63.74%)
Jordan Alspach – 152 (35.10%)
Sigourney City Council (Ward 2)
Jesse Hannam – 70 (57.38%)
Stephani Lentz – 50 (40.98%)
Sigourney City Council (Ward 4)
Larry Chmelar – 93 (97.65%)
South English Mayor
Edward Shafranek – 22 (91.67%)
South English City Council
Cameron Miller – 21 (21.43%)
Emily Clarahan – 19 (19.39%)
Nicholas Frazier – 19 (19.39%)
Hope Frazier – 18 (18.37%)
Andi Albert (Write-in) – 5 (5.10%)
Thornburg Mayor
Steve Bos – 5 (100%)
Thornburg City Council
Jayne Garcia – 5 (33.33%)
Dale A. Walker – 5 (33.33%)
Debra Walker – 5 (33.33%)
Webster Mayor
Bran E. Lee – 14 (100%)
Webster City Council
Steve Black – 16 (22.86%)
Scott A. Mihal – 15 (21.43%)
Gerald Glandon – 14 (20.00%)
Steven Street – 14 (20.00%)
Scott Shifflett – 11 (15.71%)
What Cheer Mayor
Darrell Wilkening – 97 (85.09%)
What Cheer City Council
Donna S. Rogers – 83 (14.36%)
Sandra Van Patten – 72 (12.46%)
Frank Calvert – 68 (11.76%)
Lisa Breckelsberg – 67 (11.59%)
Dwight Danner Sr. – 65 (11.25%)
Mike Danner – 44 (7.61%)
Michael Jay MacCready – 37 (6.40%)
April Dumermuth – 32 (5.54%)
Rich Shafranek – 27 (4.67%)
Travis Acord – 26 (4.50%)
Brandon T. Bell – 23 (3.98%)
Faye Jones – 19 (3.29%)
David Campbell – 14 (2.42%)
English Valleys School Board
Trent Forrest – 231 (41.10%)
Steven D. Axmear – 172 (30.60%)
Ashley Dickey – 151 (26.87%)
Keota School Board
Daniel Redlinger – 230 (42.12%)
Nathan W. Greiner – 159 (29.12%)
Erin McGuire – 147 (26.92%)
Keota School Board (To Fill a Vacancy)
Pat Hammen – 273 (97.50%)
Pekin School Board (District 1)
JD Olinger – 285 (97.60%)
Pekin School Board (District 3)
Ray Fear (Write-in) – 26 (50%)
Pekin School Board (District 5)
Linda Brock – 196 (54.75%)
John Joseph Greiner – 160 (44.69%)
Pekin School Board (At-Large)
Kortney Baumberger – 377 (92.85%, Washington and Wapello votes not included)
Sigourney School Board
Adam Sellers – 546 (29.85%)
Cody Branstad – 437 (23.89%)
Steven Seeley – 397 (21.71%)
Allan Glandon – 366 (20.01%)
Tri-County School Board
Ben Molyneux – 155 (52.90%)
Derek Hall – 134 (45.73%)
Indian Hills Community College Director (District 1)
Beth Danowsky – 1211 (99.26%)
